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For those that don’t remember, October 2021 was nicknamed “Striketober” by many in the labor movement, due to the large number of high-profile labor struggles that peaked during the month. This wave of labor organizing began long before October and has continued to this day. One of the best aspects of this new wave of organizing is its diversity. Workers of all ages, races, genders and across all sectors have united to demand better. Although I will not be able to capture every single update in the labor movement from Spring Term to the present, I hope this article can serve as an adequate summary.
Workers at multinational corporations have continued to unionize. Although no Starbucks union petitions were filed over the summer, three petitions were filed this month, in Green Bay, Wis., Fayetteville, Ark. and Royal Oak, Mich. On Monday, Oct. 17, a Starbucks location in Bellingham, Wash., expressed their intent to unionize. Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz turned to union busting in violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and new Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan was evasive when asked about the issue. Organizing has continued at Amazon, too. Although the initial union vote in Bessemer, Ala., in April 2021 as well as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-ordered recount ended in a loss for the union, Amazon workers at the JFK8 plant in Staten Island, New York won. On Tuesday, Oct. 18, Amazon workers in Albany, N.Y., lost their union drive while Amazon workers in Southern California are set to have a union vote in November. In Stone Mountain, Ga., Amazon workers went on strike, but so far have not advocated for a union and in St. Charles, Mo., Amazon workers have been demanding better conditions.
Other multinational corporations facing down union drives include GEICO, Apple, Lowe’s, Home Depot and Trader Joe’s. Lila Balali, the lead organizer of the GEICO drive, says that she was inspired by the lead organizer of the Amazon union effort, Christopher Smalls. Additionally, the Lansing, Mich., Chipotle location became the first unionized store in the country and workers at PetCo in Shoreline, Wash., have been pushing for the same.
Workers in the transportation industry, both of goods and passengers, have also been demanding better. In the airline industry, both pilots and flight attendants have been going on strike. In June, Southwest Airlines pilots in Dallas, Tex. picketed in front of the airport to protest being understaffed and overworked. Flight attendants at Southwest and United Airlines have also gone on strike. Additionally, Delta Airlines pilots will vote to authorize a strike or not at the end of October and pilots at Eurowings Airlines began a three-day strike on Monday, Oct. 17. These are not the only ones; over the Labor Day weekend, thousands of pilots across the country at a variety of airlines went on strike. Railroad workers transporting cargo have been demanding better pay and the ability to take time off and over the summer and fall, 12 unions representing more than 110,000 railroad workers have been in the midst of negotiations. On Monday, Oct. 10, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division voted to reject an agreement that included raises and a bonus, because, according to its president, Tony Caldwell, the railroads failed to address time off and working conditions. If even one of the 12 unions does not agree to the contract by November, there will be a rail strike.
On April 1, 2021, coal miners at the Alabama-based Warrior Met Coal, Inc. went on strike to demand better wages, working conditions and time off. United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) has held the line for months, rejecting inadequate offers from the company. Warrior Met employees on strike even traveled to New York to protest the companies that own shares in the company. The NLRB has unfortunately ordered the union to pay millions of dollars in damages to the company, but UMWA President Cecil Roberts stated that the union would not pay those damages and the amount was reduced to about $400,000. Warrior Met has insisted that 40 union organizers be fired when a contract is reached, a stipulation that UMWA sees as unacceptable. Because of this, the strike is continuing as of Monday, Oct. 17, 2022.
Labor organizing has come for education, too. In Washington State, public school teachers in three districts: Seattle, Kent and Ridgefield, went on strike around the beginning of the school year. In Seattle, the start of school was delayed one week due to teachers striking for better pay, smaller class sizes and more resources for students. In Columbus, Ohio, the teachers’ union went on strike for climate-controlled classrooms and more support for students. And, on the morning of Monday, Oct. 17, teachers in Haverhill, Mass., and Malden, Mass., went on strike for similar reasons. In higher education, campus workers, including faculty, student workers, staff and researchers have been organizing unions. Some of these schools include Duke University, Emory University, Washington State University, Boston University and Kenyon College. Campus workers have also been forming unions in the University of Arizona system and the University of Colorado system, and the University of California system is currently in negotiations with the union that was recognized last year.
Less traditional workplaces have also been organizing. In the sports arena, Minor League Baseball players have joined the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) following concerns about players being expected to perform 60-70 hours a week while having their pay capped at 40 hours per week and being expected to train during the off-season without being paid. Major Leage Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred voluntarily recognized the union after initially opposing it, and MLBPA president Tony Clark applauded the move. This shows that bosses like Manfred, while not altruistic in their intentions, recognize that union-busting is a losing strategy. Other less-than-conventional workplaces experiencing labor organizing include strippers in Los Angeles, food service workers at San Francisco International Airport and tattoo artists in Seattle, Wash. After a three-day strike, the airport workers in San Francisco received their first pay raise in three years. Additionally, thousands of incarcerated people in Alabama’s prisons have refused to continue working without pay while in jail, putting pressure on legislators.
Clearly, the labor movement is picking up steam. According to NLRB data for 2022, the amount of union elections won at midyear is higher than any time since 2005, 76.6% of unions won their elections, three times as many workers went on strike in 2022 compared to 2021 and 70% of Americans support unions, the highest number in a long time.
Unions are an important tool that workers can use to assert their rights. It’s clear that bosses are afraid of what happens when workers use their power. If bosses are so scared of unions, it means that workers are winning.